Where I See The Sun
Contemporary Poetry In The Virgin Islands. Lasana M Sekou, Editor. St. Martin, Caribbean: House of Nehesi Publishers, 2016.
Paperback: $20.00 USC
The anthology comprises poetry from 26 poets, including Eileene L. Parsons, Patricia Turnbull, Verna Penn Moll, Natalio Wheatley (Sowande Uhuru), Richard Georges, Quincy Lettsome, Traci O’Dea, Joe O’Neill, Adell Semper, Giovanni Herbert, Kamaal Lettsome, Jennie Wheatley, Beverly Donovan, Nia Douglas, Leslie Cramer, Bobbi Fawcett, Tracy A. Christopher, Daiikiru Maximillion (Errol Percival), Lavanta ‘Artful’ Thompson, Brandon Tang, Diana Stewart- Walker, Juana France, Jaedia Smith, Kimberly M. Cordes, April Glasgow and Osario Norman.
In setting the tone for the book’s language of today… are the opening poems by Alphaeus Osario Norman. Norman may not be a contemporary living person as the other poets in the volume are, but, to use a term applied elsewhere by literary critic Howard Fergus for Aime’ C’esaire, the poetry by Norman has been unearthed to date, offers him for our consideration as ‘timelessly modern.’
“The application of parameters encompassing what is contemporary when putting together this edition of Where I See the Sun has much to do with the intention of seeking out the VI happenings of now, in a place, a territory, a nation that has long been determined- from “Amina Negroes” to “Luck Hill, Tortola- to grow original pathways, whether institutionally acknowledge as such. or widely known or engaged yet, or not.
The appendix of author profiles could further inform a chronology of literary and publishing activities in this Caribbean nation, which is one of the last territories of the United Kingdom in the region- A Caribbean region, where the spoken word, in the widest sense of the term, is historically an indivisible and at times a markedly revolutionary act in forcing and advancing the complex of freedom, independence, cooperation, progress and prosperity. May readers find in the full body of the poems an exercise of the sovereignty of ideas and inspiration. (Lasana M Sekou, Editor)
Reviews of Where I See The Sun
… It is my sincere hope that a text that anthologises and curates the writings of these many formative writers of the territory will soon become a reality. Their influence on our society and on our literature cannot be overstated and, while efforts have been made to honour them, to give them their flowers now, as it were, we can only hope that history records them and their contributions to Virgin Islands culture as it ought.
(Richard Georges, Lecturer, Hamilton Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC)
A sampling of Verna’s contribution in the Anthology:
THE SOUND OF SILENCE
The quality of silence
Is not silent;
It speaks its truth
Positive or negative
Good or evil
In turmoil or in glory.
Silence of indifference
In the face of obvious wrong
When respectability
Is mum and tall
In the judge’s witness hall.
Silence in the heavenly sphere
And firmament
Loudly cries out
In hushed, muted eloquence
Of the wonder
And grandeur of God’s power.
It speaks like to Elijah:
After the gale,
Earthquake and fire
The sheerest silence heard,
And afterward
The tender voice of God.
Silence is not just absence
Of noise and words;
It is a strange
Quality: a grace or a curse;
It speaks its truth
In turmoil or in glory.
Contact Verna About Buying Where I See The Sun
Related Books to Where I See The Sun
Verna is well known for her poetry and for her hymns some of which have recently been recorded and published by Richard Irwin. They are available from all good on-line music stores. Free downloads and scores are available from Hymns Without Words.